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"This Mt. Williamson (8,214') refers to the USGS summit, the first from southeast to northwest on a ridge called Pleasant View Ridge. It is an easy hike up from Islip Saddle along the Pacific Crest Trail to a good use path that leads up to this summit. The top is barren and has fantastic views out top the coastal plain, other mountains, and desert at the same time.There is no summit register here, as the Sierra Club Hundred Peaks has it on Peak 8,244' which is a short ridge walk northwest of this one. This is my 2nd hike to both 8214 and 8244. Today, however, both were the 1st and 2nd of 6 peaks on a tough 8.5 mile day with 3600' gain out and back along Pleasant View Ridge over this, Peak 8,244' (the Sierra Club's Mt. Williamson), Peak 8248, Peak 8160 (listed here as Peak 8180), then down and up to Peak 7560 and Goodykoontz, and back in reverse. Beautiful day with absolutely no other hiker the entire journey!! The hike was tough to be sure, but peaceful. The scenery throughout is fantastic Stats for round-trip include the entire hike." — brianpowell • Jul 1, 2018

"I didn't really expect to be hiking this weekend, as there was a strong chance of rain and thunderstorms. But by the time I went to bed on Friday night, the chances decreased somewhat for the Mt. Williamson area, and I thought that if I got an early start, I'd beat the storms. I started hiking at 6:25am from the parking area midway between Eagles Roost and Islip Saddle where the PCT crosses Angeles Crest Highway (as described in HPS route 2). The ridge line between the PCT and Mt Williamson was very windy. I'd planned to continue north / northwest from Mt. Williamson along Pleasant View Ridge, then curve south to get to Goodykoontz Peak. But when I got to the bump at 8160', enough rain was coming down for me to throw on my poncho, clouds were beginning to sweep in, and the skies didn't look like they'd be getting better any time soon. Reluctantly I turned around, since I wasn't sure what sort of trail there was to Goodykoontz, and there was a good chance that the visibility wouldn't be very good. As I returned to Williamson, the weather seemed to get better, then worse, again and again, so I wasn't sure whether I'd made the right decision. Back on the summit of Williamson, I met an..." — HikerMark • Jul 18, 2015

"A nice hike up the PCT to the summit. One of the best views north of any mountains in the San Gabriels. Spotted a dust devil down in the Mojave along with some great cloud formations spreading across the desert. Third time up and I'm sure I'll be back again." — Christopher • Jul 15, 2012

"Disaster with the Sierra Club led trip. Was supposed to climb Islip but there was too much snow. Went to Williamson instead but had same problem at the top and couldn't find way down. 8 hour hike." — srphilip • May 16, 1992

A note on Prominence

A peak’s prominence, also known as topographic prominence or relative height, is a measure of how distinct a peak is from other peaks. It’s defined as the vertical distance between a peak and the lowest contour line surrounding that peak and no higher peak. Prominence is a popular metric for peaks for two reasons: 1) it’s objective and relatively easy to calculate, and 2) higher prominence peaks are more likely to be interesting with higher independence vs. peaks with lower prominence.

Note that prominence is not the same thing as a peak’s vertical drop, which is usually extremely difficult to calculate because a peak’s base elevation can be highly subjective. Instead, peakery shows vertical gain for specific routes up peaks.

Prominence ranks are calculated only for peaks with known prominence. Note that since many peaks in peakery still have unknown prominence, the ranks are subject to change as new prominence info is added.

About peakery awards

Log successful summits on peakery to earn awards:

Peak Badges: Earn a special badge for each unique peak you summit. See all of your badges on your Badges page.

First Ascent Award: Only 1 available per peak. Goes to the first peakery member to log a successful summit of a peak. Snag this award and the peak will forever bear your name.

King of the Mountain Award: Only 1 available per peak. Summit a peak more times than any other member. Beware: this award can be lost!

Summit Steward: Summit a peak at least 5 times to become one of its Summit Stewards. As Steward of a peak, you’re encouraged to keep that peak’s info up-to-date on peakery and spread goodwill on your future climbs up the peak.

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